This groundbreaking study offers the first comprehensive treatment and analysis of the phenomenon of textual interpretation in ancient Israel. Now in paperback, the book has been expanded with new material and extensive appendices.

"One of the major works of biblical interpretation in the last decade....[The book] is a compendium of exegetical insights rarely equalled in their depth or scope....Any serious interpreter or commentator will find it one of the few genuinely indispensable works of contemporary interpretation."

--Theology Today

"What makes Fishbane's monography a magisterial achievement? First, it is comprehensive....Second, the monograph balances textual detail and broad perspective....Third, Fishbane's analysis lets itself be guided by the lexical, syntactical, stylistic, and logic continuities and discontinuities within a unit as well as by the insights of relevant research, new and old."

"Immensely important....It will henceforth be impossible to discuss the history of biblical interpretation without considering the material that Fishbane has gathered."

"A sensitive and meticulous study which immediately becomes must reading for all who are concerned with biblical exegesis."

"Fishbane's carefully structured book is packed with such detailed exegesis and close argument that only the serious reader can begin to tap its richness; however, the rewards are great for anyone willing to expend the energy....Fishbane concludes his splendid book by asserting that this is the first comprehensive study of the phenomenon of inner-biblical exegesis of the Hebrew Bible. This claim is justified, and he is to be congratulated on a major contribution to biblical studies."

Michael Fishbane, Samuel Lane Professor of Jewish Religious History and Social Ethics, Brandeis University.